Anglo-American actor Roddy McDowell was BOTD in 1928. Born Roderick McDowell in London to a working class family, he began appearing in films when he was nine after winning a school acting prize, appearing in Yellow Sands and Just William. His family moved to the United States in 1940 to escape the bombing of London, settling in Hollywood, where Roddy was immediately contracted by film studio 20th Century Fox. He became one of the most popular child actors of the 1940s, appearing in the hit films How Green Was My Valley, My Friend Flicka and Lassie Come Home. Like many child stars, he found the transition to adult roles difficult, moving to New York City in 1954 to pursue a stage career. He appeared in the original Broadway production of Meyer Levin’s play Compulsion, based on Levin’s novel about the murderous gay couple Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, and earned a Tony Award nomination for the intriguingly-titled play The Fighting Cock. In 1960, he originated the role of Mordred in the Broadway premiere of Lerner & Loewe‘s hit musical Camelot. He returned to Hollywood in 1963 to appear in the ill-fated swords-and-sandals epic Cleopatra and the rather more successful Jesus biopic The Greatest Story Ever Told. He also had a recurring role as the Bookworm in the bizarrely camp TV series Batman, introducing him to a wider international audience. His other notable roles include Doctor Cornelius in the 1968 sci-fi hit Planet of the Apes, spawning innumerable sequels and a TV series spinoff, and the 1972 disaster film The Poseidon Adventure. His later career was spend mainly in television, with an amusing appearance as a camp queen in the 1980 murder mystery Evil Under the Sun. A popular member of the Hollywood acting community, he served on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. McDowell’s homosexuality was an open secret in Hollywood circles, though he never came out in his lifetime. He had discreet relationships with fellow closet cases Tab Hunter and Montgomery Clift and latterly with screenwriter Dennis Osborne. He died in 1998 aged 70.